Financial Aid & Scholarships
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Scholarship Resources
- Class of 2025 Scholarship Opportunities to Consider
- Finding and Applying for Scholarships
- Scholarships.com
- College Board Scholarship Search
- Fast Web
- College Scholarships
- Peterson's
- Unigo
- Cappex
- Going Merry
- Chegg
Applying for Financial Aid
Completing the FAFSA (2025-2026) Applying for Financial Aid
If your student is applying for need-based college financial aid and/or planning on taking out federal student loans, your family must complete and submit the FAFSA, along with any other financial aid applications your college(s) may require. Financial aid deadlines are often the same as or shortly after application deadlines.
The U.S. Department of Education has announced that the 2025-2026 FAFSA Form is currently available for all students and contributors (official launch date of Sunday, December 1, 2024). To apply for federal student aid, such as federal grants, scholarships, work-study, and loans, students and parents will need to complete the FAFSA. Many states and colleges use your FAFSA information to determine your eligibility for state and school aid. Some private financial aid providers may also use your FAFSA information to determine if you qualify for their aid.
Important FAFSA Steps:
- Prior to completing the FAFSA, the student and their contributor(s) need to create their own StudentAid.gov accounts at least three days prior to filling out the FAFSA. After creating an FSA ID, it takes 2–3 days for an ID to be identity-verified with the IRS. Without an identity-verified ID, students and their contributor(s) cannot consent to tax sharing with the IRS.
- Print a copy or take a screenshot of the information your contributor enters on the “Personal Information” page when they create their account. Enter this same information exactly as entered when inviting the contributor to your FAFSA form. For example, differences as small as a missing period or using “Road” instead of “Rd” when entering an address lead to errors that may prevent the contributor from entering your FAFSA form.
- The student, rather than the parent, should log in and start the FAFSA in the “My Activity” section. The form must be in a “Draft” or “In Progress” status to make changes.
- The student should invite their contributor(s) to participate and then complete the entire student section.
If a parent has a social security number (SSN): The student is required to provide this number and parent information must be entered exactly as it appears on their Social Security card. This allows for a match and the invitation to be sent correctly.
If a parent does not have a social security number (SSN): A parent can create an FSA ID by entering a mailing address instead of an SSN. There will be no manual identity verification for this process, so any parent contributor can create an FSA ID. However, it is essential that when inviting the parent, the mailing address exactly matches the mailing address the parent entered when they created their FSA ID. For example, if the parent used "St." instead of "Street," use "St." as well, or it will not provide the contributor match. Additional information about parents who do not have an SSN can be found here. - After the student adds their school(s) in which they have applied or plan to apply, they should review their information, sign their form, and then continue to the “section complete” page.
- The student’s contributor(s) will need to accept their invitation and log in to the form to provide their information.
- Submit the form. If the student successfully completed their section, and their contributors successfully completed their section, the form should be submitted.
- Watch for a confirmation email. The student will receive a confirmation email showing the submission date and estimated aid eligibility.
FAFSA Resources
Completing the CSS Profile (2025-2026)
The CSS Profile (2025–2026) is now available online to complete. Some colleges require applicants to complete the CSS Profile, an online application that collects information used by nearly 400 colleges and scholarship programs to award non-federal aid.
CSS Profile Resources
- Learn more and complete the CSS Profile
- View the list of colleges and universities that require the CSS Profile
Financial Aid Resources
- Types of Financial Aid
- College Board Financial Aid Checklist
- Federal Student Aid
- Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA)
- MEFA Pathway College Cost Calculator
- New England Board of Education: Tuition Break for MA Residents
- Edvisors
- Fin Aid
Loan Resources
- Federal Direct Stafford Loan (Subsidized and unsubsidized)
- Federal Perkins Loan
- Massachusetts No Interest Loan
- Private Alternative Student Loan Options: Compare Various Lenders (Tool available for select colleges)